Mesa Grill Gives Celebrity Restaurants A Good Name

Celebrity chef restaurants are both the savior and the bane of Las Vegas dining.

Sure, it took people like Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck to start the trend away from cheap prime rib specials toward epicurean feasts that have turned the city into one of the top dining destinations in the world.

At the same time, it seems like anyone who has ever published a cookbook or gotten his or her face on the Food Network is opening yet another trendy eatery in town, often with less-than-stellar results since they rarely spend any real time in the places.

Enter Bobby Flay, a Food Network staple with enough name recognition to fill his signature Mesa Grill restaurant at Caesars Palace to overflowing, no matter how good or bad it is.

The place doesn't need his name. It's good all by itself.

The space is a casual, vaguely retro stunner with soaring ceilings, warm woods and comfortably mod furnishings all done in bold yet somehow understated primary colors. The amorphous layout contains not one single sharp edge or corner that I could find, except for maybe on the plates. It's a visual feast before the actual feast begins.

The menu is a wide-ranging affair of dishes, most with a southwestern flair, all with the typically extravagant touches and twists that set "fine dining" apart from just plain old dining. You want a chicken quesadilla? Fine. But you're going to get it with smoked chicken and black beans, served with avocado and a toasted garlic creme fraiche ($13).

But what a quesadilla it is. Created in the specially constructed 20-foot-tall rotisserie-and-quesadilla oven (who knew there were such things?), this was a delight, almost crispy but not crunchy, tangy without an overwhelming bite, and stuffed with enough recognizably fresh ingredients to make it its own meal.

Another appetizer must are the Yucatan chicken skewers ($12), tender chunks of meat sauteed and grilled to perfection with a yogurt-cilantro dipping sauce providing a better-than-ranch-dressing accompaniment.

Other notables in the appetizer section were the roasted pumpkin soup with smoked chiles and pomegranate and pecan relish ($10), the blue corn pancake with barbecued duck and a spicy habeñero chile sauce ($14), and the blue crab and fresh cod griddle cakes served with a roasted poblano sauce ($16). There's a lot to choose from in this neighborhood of the menu, making it a great place for sharable snacks and drinks with friends, perhaps before or after you see Celine Dion right across the way.

Entrees run the gamut from seafood to poultry to beef to game and beyond, all run through that southwestern flavoring gauntlet. There's a New Mexican spice rubbed pork tenderloin served with a bourbon-ancho chile sauce ($31); a coffee-spice rubbed filet mignon ($34); fire-roasted lobster tail with red chile-coconut milk sauce ($44); ancho chile-cumin rubbed rabbit ($33); and the signature sixteen-spice rotisserie chicken ($28).

I was particularly jonesing for the aged buffalo ribeye steak with mustard-habañero barbecue sauce and cayenne-sour cream onion rings ($38), but since it was lunchtime and I had a big meal planned for the evening, I went with the sixteen-spice rotisserie chicken salad.

The presentation, as expected, was audacious, with stacks of chicken and greens forming a tower between colorful corn tortillas, goat cheese and equally colorful drizzlings of sauces, including a green onion vinaigrette. The meat was verging on blackened -- in a good way -- substantial in both heft and not-too-spicy flavor, which mixied well with the cool greens, tangy cheese, and zesty sauces. The entire thing could have been overwhelming melange of varying textures and tastes, but it all worked brilliantly as a whole.

Now, I consider dinner to be a social obligation you have to get out of the way so you can have dessert, so I was looking forward to seeing if the meal's end lived up to the beginning and middle. All the staff really needed to say was, "Raspberry cheesecake," and I was sold, but then the modern-art-museum worthy plate arrived, and I was in heaven. The cheesecake base, with a white chocolate cookie crust, held a mixture of something best described as a raspberry compote that, once you cut into it, blended into a near perfect blend of sweet and sour that I didn't want to end.

Prices, as noted, are on the high side, at least according to my wallet, but not at all out of line for what you're getting and the neighborhood in which you're eating. Compared to other nearby restaurants, this is a veritable bargain.

Appetizers fall in the $10 to $16 range (a few bucks less at lunch), lunch and brunch entrees include sandwiches (burger, pork tenderloin, pressed Cuban) and will run $10 to $24, dinner entrees go from $23 to $44 (most in the mid-30s), and desserts are all $12.

Service was impeccable, which was to be expected since I was dining with a Caesars Palace executive, but I paid attention to how the staff handled the tables without people who could drop them to the curb and was impressed by how they remained attentive without being intrusive.

A full bar specializes in tequila (with more than 250 bottles to choose from) and margaritas. This seemed like a good spot to socialize and maybe order some of those appetizers or dessert.

Stand up and cheer for a celebrity chef restaurant worth its celebrity status.

Mesa Grill
Caesars Palace
3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
(702) 731-7731
Open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. for brunch, and nightly for dinner from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m.

The Full Story

Go All Out For Valentine's In Vegas
Ka Furthers Amazement Of Cirque Shows With Story
Mesa Grill Gives Celebrity Restaurants A Good Name
Vegas Q&A: What's The Vegas Dress Code?

In Next Week's Column

Next week: The latest from Las Vegas.

Plus, don't forget to send your questions about Las Vegas. I've got room for more, so send them in today!

Click here to go to the main page of Vegas4Visitors.com and see all of the fantastic resources Vegas4Visitors has to offer you when planning your next trip to Las Vegas.